There Is No Dark Side of the Moon, Really

Mo' Background

Last week I received a bluesky e-mail from a fellow who was trying to track down a former flame—one Kay Seeburg, she of the jukebox family. He had Googled her name and, lo' and behold, up came a post I had made on Radio Paradise in reference to Pink Floyd's Remember A Day. The track is from their second LP, A Saucerful of Secrets, which she thought was the funniest LP title ever. Don't ask me why.

The title of this blog comes by way of the Floyds. Being a HUGE fan of theirs from that LP forward (save for the Animals atrocity), it always amazes me to find listeners—like you, perhaps—who have no inkling of what transpired prior to their epic DSOM (Dark Side of the Moon, for the uninitiated). Sure, that seminal LP sat on Billboard's charts for-freakin'-ever and, though I haven't checked, I'm pretty certain it set Guinness Book records (humor, ar-ar).

So if you have an incination, in addition to the aforementioned Saucerful, may I suggest for your listening pleasure the following: Ummagumma, Atom Heart Mother, and More. The latter is a very obscure soundtrack the Floyd did for a highly-forgettable movie, though their contribution is outstanding. (The Floyds also recorded another soundtrack, Obscured By Clouds, but only overzealous Floyd freaks need track this one down.)

Some of my running buddies also like Meddle, as do I, though I can only listen to the version of Echoes that I edited using Sony Sound Forge. (I understand the track that appears on their Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd CD by this name is essentially the same as my edited version.)

And for you Netflixers, see if you can spot one pre-Lennonesque Yoko Ono in Pink Floyd: London 1966-1967. This rare footage features the band with founder Syd Barrett, performing a pre-Piper At the Gates of Dawn version of Astronomy Domine, as I recall. Maybe it was Interstellar Overdrive, I dunno. Watch the DVD: you'll enjoy seeing what the mid-60s Carnaby Street crowd was up to after hours.

So if you only know of Pink Floyd by way of DSOM and The Wall, you've got a LOT of terrific listening ahead of you. And David Gilmour's On An Island is also highly recommended!

Wish(ing) You Were Here